trochophore

[ trok-uh-fawr, -fohr ]

noun

, Zoology.

1. a ciliate, free-swimming larva common to several groups of invertebrates, as many mollusks and rotifers.

trochophore

/ ˈtrɒkəsˌfɪə; ˈtrɒkəˌfɔː /

noun

1. the ciliated planktonic larva of many invertebrates, including polychaete worms, molluscs, and rotifers

Word History and Origins

Origin of trochophore¹

1890–95; < Greek trochó ( s ) wheel + -phore

Word History and Origins

Origin of trochophore¹

C19: from Greek trokhos wheel + -phore

Example Sentences

Molluscs, annelids and numerous smaller phyla typically share stereotyped spiral cleavage patterns, cell-fate assignments and characteristic ciliated trochophore larvae, features that originated in the Precambrian era.

From Nature

Crassostrea gigas is also an interesting model for developmental biology owing to its mosaic development with typical molluscan stages, including trochophore and veliger larvae and metamorphosis.

From Nature

It is an ancestral larval form, corresponding perhaps to the stages immediately succeeding the trochophore in the development of Annelids, but with some of the later-acquired Crustacean characters superposed upon it.

From Project Gutenberg

C, Trochophore of Polygordius. and D, later stage of the same, showing the development of the trunk.

From Project Gutenberg